List of ambassadors of Russia to Iraq

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Iraq is the official representative of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to the Prime Minister and the Government of Iraq.

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Iraq سفير الاتحاد الروسي لدى جمهورية العراق
Emblem of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent Maxim K. Maximov since October 3, 2016
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Embassy of Russia in Baghdad
Style	His Excellency The Honorable
Reports to	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Residence	The Embassy
Seat	Baghdad, Iraq
Appointer	The President
Term length	At the pleasure of the President
Formation	November 29, 1944
First holder	Grigory T. Zaitsev
Website	Embassy of Russia- Baghdad

The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Embassy of Russia in Baghdad.[1] There is a Russian consulate-general in Erbil.[2] The current ambassador is Maxim K. Maximov, serving since October 3, 2016.[3]

Background

The historic relations between Russia and Iraq, when latter was part of the Ottoman Empire. The Russian imperial government still shows wide interest in the region. Since the 19th century, a Russian consulate was functioning in Baghdad, due to the Shia Muslims' pilgrimage to the holy cities of Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf. After the Russian Empire annexed the North Caucasus and Central Asia this further increased due to the large Shia populations native to those regions. According to the Russian consul in Baghdad on November 19, 1890, 19.5 thousand pilgrims from the North Caucasus and Central Asia visited the holy shrines in Iraq.[4] However, after the end of the Ottoman rule in the region, the diplomatic mission was ended.

Soviet Union re-established diplomatic ties with newly independent Iraq on September 9, 1944. In 1955, relations were disrupted by the Iraqi side. In July 1958, both countries resumed diplomatic relations.

Timeline of the diplomatic relations

• August 25 - September 9, 1944 - diplomatic relations were established at the mission level.
• January 3 - 8, 1955 - diplomatic relations were interrupted by the Iraqi government.
• July 18, 1958 - an agreement was reached on the resumption of diplomatic relations at the embassy level.

List of ambassadors

Ambassadors to the Kingdom of Iraq (1944 - 1958)

Ambassador	Appointed	Mission terminated
Grigory T. Zaitsev	November 29, 1944	January 29, 1949
Ivan N. Yakushin	1952	January 8, 1955
Diplomatic relations interrupted (1955 - 1958)

Ambassadors to the First Iraqi Republic (1958 - 1968)

Ambassador	Appointed	Mission terminated
Grigory T. Zaitsev	July 31, 1958	October 15, 1961
Mikhail D. Yakovlev	October 15, 1961	August 7, 1965
Vasily F. Nikovlev[5]	August 7, 1965	December 17, 1969

Ambassadors to the Second Iraqi Republic (1968 - 2003)

Ambassador	Appointed	Mission terminated
Veniamen A. Likachev	February 20, 1970	December 29, 1973
Anatoly A. Barkovsky	December 29, 1973	March 17, 1982
Victor I. Minin	March 17, 1982	December 19, 1989
Victor I. Posuvalyok	March 13, 1990	April 22, 1992
Nikolai V. Kartuzov	August 22, 1994	August 6, 1999
Alexander P. Shein	August 9, 1999	March 29, 2002
Vladimir E. Titorenko[6]	March 29, 2002	December 8, 2003

Ambassador to the U.S. occupied Iraq (2003 - 2004)

• Ilya A. Morgunov (December 8, 2003 - March 3, 2005)[7]

Ambassadors to the Republic of Iraq (since 2004)

Ambassador	Appointed	Mission terminated
Vladimir V. Chamov	March 3, 2005	October 16, 2008
Vlarian V. Shuvaev	October 16, 2008	March 2, 2012
Ilya A. Morgunov	March 2, 2012	October 3, 2016
Maxim K. Maximov	October 3, 2016	Incumbent

See also

• Iraq–Russia relations
• Foreign relations of Iraq
• Embassy of Russia, Baghdad

References

1. "Embassy of Russia in the Republic of Iraq".
2. "Consulate of Russia in Erbil, Iraq".
3. "The Ambassador, Russian embassy in Iraq".
4. Litvinov VP State regulation of pilgrimage of Shiite Muslims of Turkestan (late XIX - early XX centuries) // Bulletin of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University. - 2014. - T. 14. - No. 3. - S. 38 - 39.
5. Also ambassador to the Ba'athist Iraq (Second Iraqi Republic)
6. Also ambassador to occupied Iraq
7. Also the first ambassador to the new Republic of Iraq

External links

• List of Soviet ambassados to Iraq, from 1944-55
• List of Soviet ambassadors to Iraq from 1955-91
• Iraq at Ministry of Foreign Affairs